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Uh oh. The last time somebody started tinkering with already lovely steering we all had a cow. BMW inserted a planetary gear set in between the steering wheel and the rack, allowing it to add or subtract steering angle as a computer saw fit. We weren’t overly impressed. Now Ford is trying the same thing, but using a vastly simpler, more elegant solution.

The idea of all these systems is to eliminate the compromise between selecting a ratio that permits easy maneuvering at low speeds and a steady, stable sense of straight ahead at high speeds with no nervous twitchiness. Allowing a motor to add to the steering angle input by the driver or subtract from it is a great way to create a virtually infinite range of effective steering ratios.

Ford’s riff on the idea was partially enabled by supplier Takata’s development of an ultra-thin vacuum-packed airbag. This low-profile bag freed up enough space inside the steering wheel to package the whole adaptive steering works–basically a small worm-drive motor anchored to the wheel driving a nylon gear connected to the steering column shaft). The beauty of the system is that it doesn’t care what sort of steering or power assist lies at the other end of the steering column, meaning it can be incorporated into anything from a Fiesta to an F-Series truck.

For our demonstration, it was mounted in a Fusion. With the airbag cover removed and lines marked on the steering wheel and shaft, we were able to spin the wheel just two turns from lock to lock at a standstill, as when parking, and watch as the column rotated about 120 degrees more than the wheel. Effort felt no heavier or lighter than in a normal Fusion (with 2.7 turns). Next we sampled a tight 10-mph slalom that was easily negotiated with about 180 degrees of steering input in each direction — just about wrist touching forearm in each direction. Switching the system off had me flailing away, arm-over-arm in each direction.

Next up we took to the higher-speed track where I was able to sample the on-center feel by wiggling the steering wheel back and forth as my speed increased, the effort ramped up naturally. Then at steady speeds of 50 and 80 mph I tried making lane changes with the system off, on in “normal” mode, and on in “sport” mode. With each step the car felt better planted, more secure. With the system off, it was just a bit too light; suggesting a bad sneeze with one hand on the wheel could be dangerous. That feeling diminished with the two modes of Adaptive Steering.

The effort felt quite natural and the ratio very sporting on the road course at speeds of 40-50 mph, and I was basically impressed with the system, but there was no place to try my acid test: a braking into a decreasing radius turn from highway speeds to 30 or so mph. This test can result in a peculiar non-linear feel to the steering as the amount of steering angle change applied varies with speed. That test may have to wait for a production car drive, which will happen within 12 months.

Some specifics of the system: The largely magnesium housing (integrated into the already magnesium steering wheel structure) adds somewhere between 1 and 2 pounds. The motor develops about 0.7 lb-ft of torque and can turn at up to 1500 rpm, but most maneuvers require no more than 500-1000 rpm. It’s not envisioned as an autonomous driving aid — electric power steering assist can already handle that function — but it would be ideal for road-crown or cross-wind compensation. The power consumed is minimal, and gets delivered to the steering wheel by way of a series of copper traces on a “clockspring”—a mylar strip that winds and unwinds as you spin the wheel, connected to the stationary column at one end and the moving steering wheel at the other. This element is considerably larger than what is required simply to run all the other steering wheel controls, which are multiplexed to the controller-area-network (CAN) bus. The entire system is self-contained on the steering wheel, including the electronic control unit that controls it. Adaptive Steering varies the effective steering ratio by roughly 4-6 points from the Fusion’s nominal 14.8. The worm gear is installed with a preload to the spur gear that prevents any lash, and hence preserves the road feel coming up through from the tire contact patches.

Expect to see the system in production within a year, probably on a vehicle the size of a Fusion or larger (the longer the wheelbase, the more “nimbleness” the system appears to add). Pricing is anybody’s guess, but it’s unlikely to be offered as a stand-alone option, but rather will likely be packaged with other sport or handling-related features.